Democrats Seek to Reshape the Party’s Image as Young, Snarky, Patriotic and Reverent of Civil Rights Heroes

Kamala Harris’ rousing speech on the final night of the Democratic National Convention capped four days of campaign shouting, testifying, preaching and high-decibel warnings about the danger posed by the prospect of a second Donald Trump presidential administration.

At every turn, Democrats used four days of primetime TV coverage to reshape their image with middle of the road voters. Flag waving and chants of “USA, USA, USA” were prevalent all week — including during the three-minute standing ovation that greeted Harris when she stepped on the stage to close out a week of testimonials to her fitness to be the next president of the United States.

Numerous speakers depicted Harris’ quest for the White House as akin to a religious movement to protect the soul of America and the architecture of democracy. And speaker after speaker pledged their devotion to the country.

“I love my country with all my heart,” Harris declared toward the end of her address in which she formally accepted the nomination following a topsy-turvy month that saw President Joe Biden end his bid for his reelection bid while her opponent faced an assassination attempt.

Stirring addresses and patriotic rallying cries are the usual stuff of presidential nominating conventions. But this time around it was evident that Democrats are trying to soften the sharper edges of their own political rhetoric in recent years. It was a tough assignment because the nominee herself is a symbol of how much has changed in national politics. At the same time, Democrats clearly want to move on from the turmoil and polarization of the Trump era.

FULL COVERAGE: Elections 2024 — Democratic National Convention

The clenched-fist anger spurred by the rise of Trump was leavened by moments to sing the praises of everyday Americans. Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who is Harris’ running mate, was hailed in his big moment on Wednesday night for being “that guy” – the high school teacher that every student loved, the football coach who took a losing team to the state championships.

Harris and Walz were presented as the rational, experienced and morally grounded choice who will protect the rights and freedoms that liberals have worked to enshrine for more than a century. Reproductive rights, the right to join a union, the embrace of the nation’s diversity as a strength not a threat and many other issues were presented as being under attack by Trump’s right-wing MAGA movement.

“We are the party of real freedom,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told the crowd. He called Trump a man “with no guardrails.” “We cherish our democracy. We love this country.”

Democrats seized on the dark and dire vision of the future presented by Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, in an effort to draw voters who are turned off by the unvarnished racism, narcissism and misogyny that is embedded in the Trump-Vance platform.

“They’ve really doubled down on the darkness,” California Sen. Laphonza Butler observed Thursday during a Q&A held at the CNN Politico Grill installation at the DNC. “At least Mike Pence was polite,” she added, making reference to the Indiana Republican who was Trump’s Vice President who has now distanced himself from Trump.

Butler was one of many who invoked the memory of Fannie Lou Hamer, the trailblazing Mississippi civil rights activist who famously fought Democratic efforts to stop Black residents from voting in the early 1960s.

“We as a country are not going back,” said Angela Alsobrooks, a candidate for U.S. Senate from Maryland, citing the need to protect the sacrifices made more than 50 years ago “by our ancestors who stood at lunch counters.”

Oprah Winfrey delivered a big jolt of star power on Wednesday with her surprise appearance at the DNC. Like others, Winfrey made a point of emphasizing her bona fides as a well-traveled American.

“I’ve lived in Mississippi and Tennessee and Wisconsin, Maryland, Indiana and Florida, Hawaii, Colorado, California and sweet home Chicago, Illinois,” she said in her trademark booming voice. “I’ve seen racism, sexism and income inequality.” But in the same breath, Winfrey hailed the decency that is found in most living rooms – and the commitment of lifelong public servants Harris and Walz. “They make me proud to say I am an American,” Winfrey said.

The “I’m a proud American” proclamations from the Hollywood figures and other boldface names who addressed the convention was an effort to counteract the image of Democrats as being in the pocket of Hollywood and Silicon Valley elites whose lives are far removed from those of everyday Americans. As such, celebrity speakers also went out of their way to present a humble image.

“She worked at McDonalds; I worked at Wendy’s – and look at us now,” multihyphenate Eva Longoria told the crowd on Thursday in the leadup to Harris’ address.

Republicans have been pounding the notion that Democrats are beholden to a “woke” political and social agenda that out of step with mainstream voters. Democrats in recent weeks have shot back that MAGA Republicans are just plain “weird.”

“It’s not woke that limits economic growth – it’s weird. And these guys aren’t just weird, they’re dangerous,” said Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. “We don’t want our kids taught in American history that slavery was a jobs program.”

Democrats’ overriding message that the 2024 contest is a referendum on the future was reinforced by the fact that the party is finally putting a bigger spotlight on the Gen X and older millennials who are rising into prominent governmental and policy-shaping roles across the country. The speaker roster included everyone from Maxwell Frost, a 27-year-old Congressman from Florida, to New York House member superstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is enormously popular with core Democrats, based the applause meter every time he appeared in and around the convention.

That infusion of younger energy into the party’s top echelon is also upping the Democrats game the war of public opinion, memes and hashtags. That’s a 21st century form of political warfare that leaders of the age of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer cannot possibly understand as well as those who have grown up with smartphones in their hands.

That said, Democratic Party elders also had a big megaphone at the DNC, with the job of reminding the crowd of how far the nation has come in support of the rally cry that has become a Harris-Walz campaign slogan: “We are not going back.”

Maxine Waters, the long-serving House member from Los Angeles, was one who referenced the spirit and legacy of the late activist Hamer in her DNC remarks. Waters noted that Hamer challenged Democrats in at the 1960 presidential nominating convention to allow her and other Black residents to finally serve as delegates for Mississippi.

“Is this America?” Hamer asked party leaders at the time, according to Waters. Four years later, Hamer and a group from Mississippi were welcomed to the 1964 DNC as delegates.

For women of Hamer’s generation, the notion of American’s electing a woman as president – let alone a woman of color — was simply out of reach. Waters reinforced what Harris’ candidacy means to voters from marginalized communities when she speculated that Harris herself would be thinking of Hamer and other forebears as she accepted her party’s nomination.

“In that moment, all of us, from New York to Pennsylvania to Arizona to California – we can ask ourselves, ‘Is this America?’ “ Waters said. She waited a beat for applause, and then punctuated her speech by calling on the crowd to shout: “Loudly and proudly, ‘You’re damn right it is.’ ”

(Pictured: U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida)